


A Mask

by sp00kworm



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Cannibalism, Corpse Eating, Death, Demon AU, Exorcisms, Explicit Sexual Content, Gen, Ghouls, Ghouls are not human, Gore, Graphic Description of Corpses, Gun Violence, Horror, M/M, Murder, Mutilation, NSFW, Psychological Horror, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Rough Sex, Sexual Content, Torture, dark themes, pseudo-cannibalism, satanic rituals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-04 09:26:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15838431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sp00kworm/pseuds/sp00kworm
Summary: Ghouls are chosen from among the Clergy. Those with talent are chosen by the ancient creatures. The demon are sealed within masks that are bestowed upon the chosen, and when they are worn, cause the creature be able to control the vessel human. Aether's new vessel is chosen, and the Ghoul introduces him to a Ghoul's life brutally.





	1. The Third

Silence. All he could hear was the gentle drip of condensation from the ceiling from where he hung on the wall. His wrists were raw, knees grazed and bruised from struggling against the chains. The man had woken up in the dark room and struggled for hours, crying out, calling for help. All he could remember was collapsing during mass, eyes going hazy before he fell, head clattering off the pew in front of him, the mass gasping. Papa Nihil’s voice had droned on in the background, rattling off the scriptures as though he hadn’t collapsed in the middle of the sermon. If he could move his hands, he would reach up and check he hadn’t cracked his skull open, but he couldn’t so much as feel his fingertips with his arms pulled up above his head. Frowning, the man tiredly looked around the dark cell once more, eyelids drooping. He could feel the sticky sensation of dried blood on his eyebrows. Blood rushed in his ears as his head pounded, mouth too dry to make a noise as he hung limply, looking down through the darkness at his form, naked skin exposed. A shiver curled up his spine, rattling the chains over his head as he slumped against the cold stone wall.

The clunk of a key turning a lock caused him to lift his head, eyes squinting as a figure entered the room, flanked by two others, one sheepishly holding a box, shifting it in his grasp occasionally to look over at the leader. The golden robes of Papa Emeritus Nihil glittered before him in the darkness and the man opened his mouth, licking at his lips desperately.  
“Papa…” He croaked, “Papa, why…” Wrinkled hands grasped his cheeks, the old leader leaning over his chained form, whispering something he couldn’t understand in Latin.  
“Father. Does he even possess the strength?” The green robed figure snorted to Nihil’s right, “He can play the instrument, but that does not mean he will survive.” The vicious sneer of the second son made the man reel back, chains clinking against the wall.  
“Survive? Papa…” He was panicking, breathing coming out sharper, “Survive what? What…What are you going to do to me?” He felt blood drip down his wrists again with the renewed wriggling.

Nihil pressed his palm to the top of the Brother’s head, mussing the hair softly before turning to his venomous son, “He will survive, I have no doubts. The call snared him, selected him from the mass.” The man continued to take shaky breaths beneath the weight of Nihil’s palm on his head.  
The Second Emeritus only scoffed, turning to the other figure, opening the box in his grasp, “Brother do hold still.” He drew incense burners from the box, placing them in each corner of the room before returning and drawing a blade from the velvet confines. Nihil shushed him again as the blade was passed over by the handle, his old fingers twisting it in the dim light of the lantern they had hung on the wall. The blade glinted dangerously. The Brother swallowed, watching Nihil twist the dagger this way and that before pulling the chains so the brother had to stand. The Second son pulled something else from the box, a silver glittering mask, curled horns sprouting from the forehead, metal hair slicked in something once fashionable in the fifties. The eyeholes were blackened abysses. Something hummed through the room, and the man swore he heard an echoing chuckle.

The Third son snapped the box closed once the relic was removed, turning his wide mismatched eyes to the man chained to the wall. He’d managed to struggle to his feet, cold still making his naked body shiver, some sensation of feeling returning to his arms as they lowered a little. Nihil ushered his second son forwards, holding a hand out when he was to go no further. It was then that the Brother looked at the floor, seeing curling sigils painted across the stone, interlinking patterns within the rims. They were stained with flecks of blood.  
“Papa, whatever I have done to wrong you, I am sorry, please!” He tugged against the restraints until Nihil looked down at him with dull eyes. The irises were beginning to fog, the corneas clouding with cataracts. Their leader’s age was beginning to show.  
“Shhh, child, shh.” He brandished the silver blade closer, hand holding the man by his cheeks, the chains stopping any other movements, “You will survive this ritual. You were chosen.”  
The brother gritted his teeth, wrists rubbing raw again, “What ritual, Papa?” Dark eyes followed the waving knife.

He didn’t feel the slice at first, eyebrows raising as he saw the blade come away glittering with ruby liquid along the length, but the inability to speak soon solved that for him. Agony swam through his nerves as he slumped in the restraints, watching the blood spurt from his own arteries across the stone floor. The runes beneath him stained red as the trickles of fluid burned into them. Nihil was chanting now, something in a dark language he didn’t know. Papa Nihil placed the blade in the centre of the rune after dodging back to avoid the spurting blood from the man’s neck. The two sons joined in the chant, the Second passing Nihil the ancient mask. The brother watched his neck drip blood and coughed, red stained spittle flying across the room with a mouthful of blood pouring from his lips. Choking on his own blood, his legs shook, giving out beneath him, unable to grasp at his sliced next. His tendons severed, his head hung limply, the blood staining his body with trails of macabre red. Vomit curled in his stomach but never moved as his vision faded, watching his own blood fill the cracks in the stone.

Golden robes fluttered in front of his face again as Nihil approached, entering the circle, still whispering litanies in a dark language. His sons each had a hand pressed over their hearts as they continued to speak with him. The lantern on the wall shook as cool fingers placed the relic over his head.  Quick steps took Papa Nihil out of the circle, the blood on his shoes smudging across the stone. The man felt the cool weight numbly before the hissing sounded, pounding in his ears screaming deep in his brain, rattling, searing itself deep. The metal moved over his skin like a liquid, shrinking before he felt something twist in his gut. Convulsions shook him as heat seared through his spine, collecting at the back of his head. Gurgled noises slowly melted into a scream as his throat stitched itself back together, the muscle stretching and pulling, the arteries fusing back together. Everything snapped into place suddenly, his wrists burning anew against the silver chains, the skin hissing audibly. Another convulsion shook him, eyes rolling in their sockets as the chains rattled violently against the wall.

A voice whispered to him softly at first, probing the back of his mind before something clicked into place and it was screaming at him. The grumbled echoed in his mind as he thrashed against the silver chains, seemingly content at his suffering.  
_“I’ll take over, little mortal, let go.”_ Something like a hand caressed his head and his eyes rolled again, head lolling around on his shoulders before snapping to look forwards sharply. Nihil watched the man’s head roll, the blood in the runes fizzing beneath the body, sinking back into the skin by some form of hell creature magic. The fitting stopped, and he feared the man hadn’t survived. That was until he heard the chuckling.

The rolling head snapped this way and that before looking at the Emeritus line stood before it. The smell of scalding flesh burned their noses. The creature chuckled sharply, dark human eyes bleeding to deep purple as black claws scraped curls of silver from the chains.  
“Release the chains.” His youngest son did as was commanded, letting the creature slump onto the sigil, mask clanging against the floor. It purred as a tail sprouted from the base of its spine, slapping against the stone, slicing chunks free from the rocks. Bleeding, clawed hands pushed the creature up shakily. Scarred wrists ran over the mortal flesh, admiring the hunky features before pressing against its flaccid member.  
“Hmmmm. This one is much better than the last…Much bigger cock too.” The demon ran claws down over its thighs before standing shakily and tilting its head to look at the Emeritus line before it. “This vessel is better…” The Ghoul closed its eyes, “Much more together up here.” He tapped a black claw against the temple of the mask. Its mind was still stitching with the mortal, absorbing the memories, raking them away, trying to situate itself in the human body and gain complete control of the reins. The mortal’s little voice was quiet, sedated in the back of his mind.

  
“It is good to have you back Aether.” Nihil nodded to the Ghoul, “You remember then, what happened?” Sweeping gold robes gestured to his sons.  
Aether nodded with a hum, “The last one tried unseal himself. He choked on his own blood, Papa.” He rolled his tongue around in his mouth, the voice feeling strange, he had not long been removed from his old vessel, the man driven insane, eventually trying to destroy the bond. It hadn’t worked. He had only vomited blood for hours, the silver he had ingested mangling his insides, Aether suffering but not dead, his bond to the mask keeping his energies bound. It was sad, but not many could stand the bond for long. The constant whispering of a demon, the lack of control over yourself and a slave to the Papacy.  
“Aether, my friend.” Emeritus III stepped forwards, arms wide. The Ghoul shook his head, letting the shorter man give him a brief hug as he struggled to walk the human body.  
“So long as you are bonded, Aether, I’m afraid we must remove it, and tell the brother what we have done.” The Ghoul only nodded, closing his eyes, letting the Third remove the relic with whispered Latin. The connection severed, and the Ghoul was suspended in the human’s mind.

The man gasped for air, nails chipping against the stone floor as his conscious resurfaced, shaking like he had just come up out of an ice-cold bath. Papa Nihil reached a wrinkled hand forwards and took hold of the man’s hand, carefully steadying him.  
“Papa, what…my neck… That was a Ghoul?” Shaking hands grasped the Papa as shaking sobs wracked the brother’s body.  
“You were chosen by it. And now you both are bonded for eternity, or for as long as you may live. I am sorry, brother, but once you are chosen, there is no other way…” Three pairs of mismatched eyes watched him as he swallowed and nodded, realising it was his fate. “These creatures do not choose lightly. You were chosen for qualities that are only known to Aether.” He felt the creature stir somewhere in his mind at the name.  
_“That is our name now. We are one, mortal. You and I.”_ It was a gentle voice, warm like his own comforting shadow.

They cast a robe over his shoulders, the ends scrapping against the floor, pushing the mask into his hands gently as they tied the cloak closed, pulling the hood forwards to conceal his features.  
“Nameless you now are, and nameless you will remain.” They chanted quietly before ushering him out of the door. Aether whispered softly in the back of his mind, the mask in his grasp heating gently with the connection.

 

The first ritual was a haze. Aether had spoken to him for hours before it, telling him everything. The creature swore it would be an experience like no other. Briefly they had practiced together, the Ghoul enhancing his talent with the guitar to a demonic level. He didn’t need to even peer at the strings anymore. With Aether in control, the music flowed beautifully, the notes melting together as he strummed. On stage, it was plainly euphoric. The other Ghouls gave Aether some level of distance and respect. They all greeted one another with headbutts when the Ghouls had been allowed to speak to one another within their vessels. Aether stomped across the stage, guitar screaming as they finished, head thrown back. The stage was magnificent. The third’s enthralling voice drained away and they gave their bows before filing off stage. Aether felt his tail snap, the human a ghostly presence, asleep and sedated in some corner of his brain.  The Ghoul watched his brothers stand before their Papa, chirping and grumbling as they were severed. Aether rushed from the room before any of them could stop him.

Finding a fan wasn’t hard. The girl threw herself into his clawed grasp, high on something and unbelievably drunk. Her mouth fogged one cheek of the mask and he purred, throwing her onto the mattress with a flare of Ghoulish strength, meandering after her, tail swinging, eyelid drooping over swirling purple eyes. She failed to notice, too busy wrestling herself onto her back. He pressed her down into the covers with a grumble, claws raking through her hair before pulling it taught. The silver mask glittered over her and Aether cursed his Ghoulish instincts as his claws slid around her throat.

The slice was easy, like the soft neck of a lamb as he pulled her blood vessels open. Primal instincts kicking into over drive, he pulled the mask away, the connection having not been severed by the Third, revealing the hellish face. Dripping maws opened sucking the flesh of her bleeding neck into his mouth, guzzling the spurting hot blood greedily. A blood dazed brain supplied nothing to his situation, so the demon ran on autopilot, pulling the hair tighter in his fist, teeth clamping over her larynx. The cartilage cracked before it swung free, hanging limply from the Ghoul’s mouth. He dropped it into the sheets, watching her eyes turns glassy before looking at the blood staining his skin. Aether licked his fingers with a pointed long tongue and purred, closing purple eyes as his skin swirled to black, the human’s mortal body shifting.

Aether purred and tittered, moving over the body star-fished across the sheets, watching them seep with red, eyes trailing over the corpse, teeth gnashing. His claws picked up her leg. The supple muscle tore beneath his shark like teeth, chunks peeling away with flaps of tanned skin. He chewed them in huge mouthfuls, purring contently as he pulled the flesh from the bone. The crunch of the shattering bone made something primal burn gleefully. The Ghoul’s pointed tongue pushed inside the bone, drawing soft marrow from within the femur. Swiping the gelatinous substance around his mouth he reached for the flesh again, ripping ligaments and muscle, chewing and purring. The face he left intact, looking upon her shocked expression as he laid next to her, claws stroking over her eyelids, closing them, as though she was only resting.

The Ghoul woke up in a shock, four sets of arms pinning him in place on the blood-soaked sheets. Papa Emeritus III stood over him with a scowl, chanting, the mask had been replaced over his head and the Anti-Pope gently eased it away. The connection snapped and crackled out, Aether howling angrily in his blood lust haze. The man rose back to the surface, gasping and choking, dark eyes looking around the room at the rest of the sheepish looking brothers. The cold skin pressed up against him made him look at the bed. The cold mangled corpse laid next to him. He leaned over the edge of the bed and heaved, vomiting over the side of bed. It didn’t stop when he saw the chunks of meat among the pink coloured sick. Dry heaving, he felt the nothing moving, small trickles of acid dripping out of his mouth. He groaned and shook by the bed. The Third ran a hand over the back of his neck, petting the sweaty hair, his other hand still grasping the mask.  
“This is the price, my friend,” His mismatched eyes were sorrowful, “I am sorry.” The mask was held before him, and his shaking fingers grasped the heavy metal relic, Aether’s voice whispering litanies of apologies in the back of his mind.


	2. The Second

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second vessel of the Aether Ghoul is torn from the Water Ghoul.

The Brother was antsy. He had received the summons late, being collected by a tired looking Sister of Sin. Quickly, he was dressed, a hooded robe pulled on over the top of his cassock and dress trousers to cover his face . The summons said to leave the Ghoulish creature’s prison in his room. The faint soothing presence of the Water Ghoul in the back of his mind was welcome, gentle lapping waves that soothed his worry a little.   
“Why has he summoned us?” He whispered to himself.  
“I do not know…It’s strange in any case. I felt a call. Aether faded for a while but still. I thought they had sorted that…Be careful human.” Water hummed softly to him, presence wavering a little as he reached the other side of the church, the wards severing their strong connection. Water’s ghostly grip on his mind was snapped and the Brother took a deep breath, walking down the cool corridor, the walls painted with bright red paint, the black carpet plush beneath his shined shoes and spats.   
The dark wood door stood tall before him and he raised a pale shaking fist to knock on it. A litany of rapid knocks echoed down the hall, and he stood, shifting from foot to foot, as he waited confirmation to enter.

After a few minutes, he heard the arrogant tone of the Third answer him through the wood.  
“Water, come in.” He heard a Sister huff and opened to door just as she shoved him aside and exited, robes crumpled.  
“I did not mean to walk in on anything.” He bowed his head a little, averting his gaze as the Third sorted himself, tucking himself back in his trousers, pulling his black hair back into position. He span in his chair to face the hooded Ghoul, face paint still perfect, and held a hand out, gesturing to the chair before him.  
“Come, sit, I have something to tell you, Ghoul.” The Third smiled, placing his white gloves on the side of his desk. Timidly, the Brother sat in the overstuffed chair, and looked to his leader, bright eyes still full of anxiety. Not having his demonic companion with him was unsettling after so long of him whispering in the back of his mind. “You are to be tied to Aether, Brother.”   
“But…Me and Water are bound… How would Aether be able to bond to me. There was no selection or anything?” He was confused. Papa’s controlled expression wasn’t helping. The Third steepled his fingers with a grin. 

“It will be a simple ceremony. Here,” The youngest son pulled a glass and a bottle of wine out of his drawer, “This will help take the edge off, eh?” He poured the Ghoul a glass before leaning back in his chair and curling his fingers out in a vague gesture. “You will merely be severed from the Water Ghoul.” His hands met in a chopping motion, “Simple.” His mismatched eyes watched the Brother drink the wine down quickly and he smiled, hand reaching to snag the empty glass back. Haze crossed the Brother’s vision as he watched the glass get pulled back.  
“You fuck…” He cursed as he felt Water reel on the end of their connection, unable to connect to him, to shift and stop the drug. The solid, wooden table top was painful as his head collided with it.   
“Hush little Ghoul, it will be over soon.” He felt soft fingers rake through his hair as his eyes fluttered closed, slumped against the desk.

He had been in the chains before, but not in such agonising pain. Water howled in his mind, and had made him pull the things for hours, nails chipping against the cuffs. Exhaustion hit him hours later. The eyeless, shinning silver, Water Ghoul’s relic sat inches from his grasp. He had writhed, reaching his toes out to try and pull it towards him. The Ghoul had urged him, tried to get him to hurry, but it was no good. Even his toes could not reach the blasted thing. The Water Ghoul cried out, strangled voice echoing around inside the relic seated I front of him, the symbol of his element burning bright in the forehead of the mask. The silver had burnt black marks into his wrists, and he huffed, hanging limply, looking at the blood stained sigils beneath him. His head hurt from where it had clattered against the table and he grumbled, trying to tune out Water’s whimpering and not vomit at the acrid scent of his own burning flesh.

The door opened quietly, revealing the Third. He flinched at the distorted howl that met him as he stepped foot in the room. The Water Ghoul was still roiling beneath the surface, the Brother’s hands half shifted, blood weeping from the half-formed claws as the Ghoul tried to break free and stop the destruction of its bond. He tutted softly, stepping around the glowing hot mask, placing a small casket on the thin table, pressed against the wall on one side of the room. The Brother felt Water bristle like a cat at the contents of the box.   
“Aether…He is mine!” His voice was strangled as the Ghoul screamed using the Brother’s vocal chords, powers warping in the room, surging with anger.  
“We both know who is stronger, Water. Let me have him…You can have any other vessel…He is the only one strong enough to have me.” The whispery voice of the Aether Ghoul sounded in the back of his mind where Water was clinging. He sounded fatigued and tired already. Water spat like a cat in the back of his mind as Papa Emeritus III raised the stained mask from the chest, placing it on the table, fingers rubbing over the blood speckled cheeks softly.

“You are going to tear his mind in two! This has never been done before!” Water growled, the mask burning red now in the centre of the room, the bright blue light of his elemental symbol still glowing.  
“There is no other...Water, please. I cannot survive trapped in this relic, my energy is already tearing at the seams.” Aether’s phantom hands reached for the Brother’s head as he spoke, wrapping around the Water Ghoul’s bond and squeezing gently. The Third cursed as the Brother shook in his chains with another distorted howl, eyes rolling, flickering and flaring with different colours. The two Ghouls screamed in his head and the Brother whimpered before warped noises gurgled from his throat. Gently, the Third placed bundles of rosemary in the corners, lighting the herb, the scent stinking the room quickly, smoke curling up the walls. A vial appeared in the Third’s hands, and he came closer with the blue bottle, watching the Brother shake the chains against the wall before pushing his head back, avoiding the snapping teeth as he pushed the open bottle between the jaws, pinching the writhing thing’s nose. 

The Brother’s eyes shot open wide as the water flooded down his throat, coughing against it as it burned. He gagged violently, feeling the liquid move back up his nose before he choked it back down. The Water Ghoul screamed inside him as Papa Emeritus III chanted something unholy, the holy fluid churning in his gut and searing the walls of his oesophagus. What he hadn’t noticed was the Sister trailing behind the Third, her hands clutched to her chest as she recited a text. The knife entered her gut before she could see the youngest son draw it. Squealing she clutched the wound, falling to the floor above the symbols, blood dripping thickly beneath her shaking fingers. The Third huffed before drawing the silver blade over her neck, watching her weeping eyes look up at him with betrayal as her arteries spurted over the stone. The Brother twitched violently as her blood sprayed over his face, long shifted tongue flicking out to lick at it. Water grumbled as Aether’s hold strengthened. The virgin’s life force flooded over the white painted runes, bubbling unnaturally, seeping into the stone, staining the skin of the Brother’s knees red. The purity was forcing the demon from him. Papa reached for him, forcing his head back as he watched the mask in the centre of the room begin to cool, the light fading. He retrieved the Aether Ghoul’s relic and placed it over the man’s face, watching it burn and seal as Water was thrust from the host, screaming and howling as he was shoved back into his own cooling relic. The ritual was something like an exorcism, and the Brother sighed in brief relief with the silence.

Papa sliced the man’s throat then, watching the two bloods merge together, the Aether Ghoul hissing as he claimed the vessel for his own, ghost claws plucking at the strings of the former bond, peeling it away as he surged in and made his own. Aether grumbled happily as he connected himself to the dying Brother, stitching the gaping wound of his neck. The muscle fused with a slick wet noise and the Brother convulsed, black scarred wrists shaking in the cuffs as he felt the powerful Ghoul settle in, sifting through the memories and sorting them away, grumbling as he took over, the vocal chords twisted back into place and he sighed softly, feeling his energies stabilise. Water hissed from his own relic. Aether felt his claws shift, scrapping against the chains as the Third released him with an eye roll.   
“Do not let this one gain control, Aether. Or you will meet the same fate as your last vessel.” He left in a swoop of robes, picking up the Water Ghoul’s cold mask as he left, leaving the smirking Ghoul laid out in the blood stains.

Aether flexed his fingers along the neck of the guitar, foot on the podium box as he moved through the fingerings of the song, eyes hidden behind shadows of his mask. He was warm, too warm, and the deafening noise of the music pounded against his ears. His fingers slipped, the riff slurring drunkenly. Water’s head snapped to him, the strumming off his bass stuttering for a moment before he tossed his head and recovered somewhat, fingers dancing to catch up. The quintessence ghoul floundered, trying to catch the next chord, jump back in with the next riff, anything. His vision swam as he looked at the Water Ghoul’s eyes. The Brother stirred from the comatose state in the back of his own mind and the Ghoul panicked as the Brother sucked in a sharp breath, taking over the riffs as Aether’s powers refluxed and churned. The connection jumped as Water moved closer, eyes swirling as he leaned forwards, mask tilting as the Ghoul’s eyes burned, the bond spiralling sharply. Aether snapped back into control and growled, fingers skipping across the frets, riffs violent as he butted at the Water Ghoul with the horns of his mask. The other Ghoul purred softly before walking back up onto the raised section of the stage, tossing his head as the bass rumbled.

The Aether Ghoul pulled aside the new small bassist after the show, grumbling low as he ushered him into a corner away from the techies and band.  
“What was that on stage, Water?” He placed a clawed hand on the wall by Water’s head, preventing the smaller Ghoul from escaping.  
“What? The bond thing. You felt it too? It was like a strange connection fussed.” Water hummed softly tapping his claws against the Aether Ghoul’s mask as he purred again. “Its funny that I still have a connection to him. Maybe you’re not as strong as you think Aether?” He butted their masks together with sparkling bright eyes. Aether grumbled before pushing the Ghoul’s head back harshly against the wall, the metal mask clanging loudly.  
“I bet you think you’re funny don’t you Water? You almost cost me control on stage…” Aether pushed himself closer, watching the smaller Ghoul reveal its neck as he leaned over, purring as his black claws curled into the other’s cassock.

Water purred softly, reaching for the dressing room door next to them, pushing it open as the Aether Ghoul picked him up, and muscled them both inside. There was a small couch that would have to do. He laid the little Ghoul on top of the cushions before snarling, tugging the fascia belt off before pulling the cassock open to reveal glamoured skin. The peachy tone was riddled with tiny scars and Aether hummed, claws mapping the jagged one over the vessel’s stomach. He growled as Water reached up and tugged his cassock open, claws pinching his stomach before popping his pants open, feeling at the hardening erection.  
“Got such a big dick you go commando huh?” Water snickered before gasping as his mask was ripped from his face, looking up with bright blue eyes at the Aether Ghoul. Aether hummed, claws reaching to stroke his cock before he tugged Water’s trousers down sharply. He didn’t feel like giving the cheeky ghoul more ammunition. “Oh not into talking, just want to get right to the fucking?” He squealed when Aether leaned forwards, opening Ghoulish jaws to suck the Water Ghoul’s dick into his mouth.

Humming, Aether pressed his tongue to the underside of Water’s cock, enjoying the squirming thighs beneath his hands as he ran his tongue up the hard on, suckling on the tip before pulling away, leaning forwards on one hand, throwing his own mask over the back of the couch before kissing the little Ghoul.  
“Do you have any lubricant Water?” He huffed against the other’s lips, stroking their cocks together as the Water Ghoul squirmed away, pushing the other Ghoul's face away, reaching for his ritual trousers. Fiddling in all the pockets he finally pulled free a small packet of lubricant and grinned. Aether grumbled and snatched the packet before pulling it open with sharp teeth, pulling open the corner and slicking his fingers as Water tittered, rolling over to present his backside, tail flopped over his back, skin shimmering with the glamour he was struggling to hold onto. Aether pressed his fingers to the small Ghoul’s asshole with a purr, pushing one in slowly, watching the Ghoul squirm and chirp before scissoring him open quickly, adding more fingers before snapping his teeth in the Water Ghoul’s neck, biting as he slicked his dick, and lined himself up. Aether thrust into the little Ghoul, dominating the cheeky thing with punishing thrusts, grumbling as teeth held him in place, drawing blood. His pointed tongue lapped at the mark as they rutted together, sending the larger Ghoul into more of a frenzy.

They growled and chattered to one another as they drew closer to their highs. Aether grumbled as he came deep in the other ghoul’s ass, watching Water cum and fall limp against the arm of the sofa. Claws scrapped down his back as Aether pinned him, a hand against the bottom of his back.  
“Don’t try it again Water.” He hissed before fixing himself up and leaving, feeling the smirk of the Water Ghoul as he closed the door softly behind him.

There was something wrong. His vessel was shaking when they returned to the bus ahead of everyone else. They had been bonded for mere months, and it was still a turbulent connection, the human ignoring him, not responding when he tried to probe for answers. It was annoying, but he let it go. The mortal was pulling apart at the seams. Every time his whispery voice echoed he’s clutch his head, muttering to leave him be, to go away. So the Ghoul did, and stayed quiet in the back of the vessels mind as he watched him slip something into his robe. The bus was warm. The Brother pulled his hood away, shedding the long cloak and tossing it onto his bunk with his mask, glaring at the dark eyeholes before pushing his way into the small bathroom, past the small set of seats they had in the sitting room. Aether felt the man’s fingertips roll over something cool. 

Staring at his reflection in the small mirror for a moment, the Brother flipped the lock on the door, breathing deeply as he looked at the flecks of indigo in his own irises.  
“What are you doing?” Aether hummed softly, voice like a gentle caress.  
“Doing what I have to…I can’t take it anymore…I didn’t ever want this fucking bond with you. Once was traumatic enough, but now I can’t even feel myself anymore. Its like I’ve blurred in my own mind. I can see your past but not my own…” He pulled his hand out of his pocket then, presenting the glad vial. Aether watched the contents glitter in the light for a moment before snaking forwards, rapidly fighting his way for control, hissing.  
“That is silver you fool!” A mental block sent his energies reeling and the brother grunted, collapsing, the silver powder still clutched in his hand. Shaking hands reached for the cork in it, vision swimming as he stopped the Ghoul. The mask was hopefully far enough away that the connection wasn’t strong enough for it to stop him.

Wheezing he placed the glass to his lips before dumping the contents in and swallowing as much as he could, choking on the powdery substance. Aether spat at him, cursing his idiocy as the silver began to burn. His gums seared with remnants of the metal, cutting them open, blood pooling around his teeth as it burned down his oesophagus. Agony laced through him as the powder settled in his gut, burning the linings of his digestive tract. His nerves fired rapidly as the Ghoul hissed in his mind, the pure silver ripping apart the connection of his energies to the Brother, slowly, like a small flame crawling up a fuse. It was burning hot pain in the back of his mind as he fell to the floor, hanging over into the small raised area of the tiny shower cubical. His mouth was numb, blood dripping over his sensationless lips as he hung there, feeling the silver boil his insides. Red droplets rolled down the white tiles. Aether spat and clawed at the connection, trying to do anything to stop the slow poisoning of his vessel, his human. It was impossible without the mask, and so the Ghoul curled in the corner of the man’s mind, awaiting the festering sever of their connection.

The silver entered his blood stream not too long later, burning through his blood vessels, turning them black as they raised to the surface of his skin. The Brother screamed in agony, shaking against the tiles as the vessels in his eyes burst, blood dying his scelera red. Wheezing, he coughed blood onto the floor, feeling his breathing to give in, eyes rolling. There wasn’t enough oxygen anymore, blood flooding the cavities of his lungs as he lay in his own spittle. Vicious convulsions came next, muscles spasming as they failed, unable to sustain themselves as his organs bled and shut down. It took a good hour for him to stop twitching, body laid in puddles of spit, vomit and blood. Aether stoked weakly inside of the body, still screaming in agony, his energies still stitched to the flesh. He cried in agony through the nether, hoping that one of his brothers would hear him.

It was the little Water Ghoul that found him, claws prying the lock open before peering inside. The Ghoul hissed in anguish, reaching for the human vessel, knees soaking in the sick as he cradles his former vessels head.   
“I need the mask…” Aether whispered to him softly, a hazy voice echoing to his brethren. Water nodded mutedly and bolted from the bathroom, trailing sick and blood over the carpets of the bus. He returned quickly and placed the mask over the dead brother’s face. Aether whispered his thanks as he finally managed to remove himself from the corpse, sinking his energies into the mask. Water removed the mask, claws stroking the burning circular sigil of the Aether.   
“You will be lucky to find another, Aether, Papa will not be pleased.”  
“The next will be better…they must be able to stand the bond…I have torn enough minds apart.” Water purred softly, putting the mask to his own, watching the blackness swirl behind the eyeholes of the relic.


	3. The First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first is selected like no other, and ends before any other.

The voice had been speaking to him for weeks, whispering in the back of his mind and in his ear. It was honey sweet and coated in shadow, calling to him in his dreams. At first, he thought it was the Devil, come to tell him prophecies and unholy litanies. He’d asked that the second time the voice had spoken. The reply was a laugh, and something hissed in a language he had never heard. The hissing continued into a high whine. The Brother covered his ears and cried out, until something popped in his ears, and the whining dulled. He understood the words then and listened to the creature.  
“I am the Aether Ghoul, the Omega, the darkness and all that holds everything together in the universe, mortal.” The Ghoul had not appeared, but a pair of dark purple eyes had looked on from the void swirling around him. “You will be mine, mortal. A vessel for my desires. Together we are unstoppable, unkillable and strong.” A black clawed hand laid over his eyes as his hearing cut out, the hissing voice speaking in his head, “Together we are power.” He woke in a cold sweat.

The Brother ducked his head, walking along the halls, a book of demons tucked beneath his arm as he walked. His hood hid his face. The Brother turned a corner and peered around.   
“The next hall, the farthest door on the right…there will be stairs.” The Ghoul whispered. He obliged and took the corner, striding over to the door and walking through. The wooden door closed behind him, plunging the Brother into darkness. His own breathing clouded before him and he shivered in his thin robes, tentatively feeling his foot on the stair before begin to take them slowly. The descent only made him colder, the walls bouncing cold breezes up the stairs that slipped up his sleeves and cassock.   
“The bottom…we are in the back…in chests.” The Ghoul hissed painfully, feeling the Brother draw closer and closer to him. He sighed softly and stumbled when he reached the end of the cellar steps. 

The room was dank, and the air stale. The Brother looked around in the darkness and felt in his pocket. His hand touched the cold blade of the knife first before grasping the cool metal of the flip lid lighter he had brought. Flicking the lid open he snapped the flint and held the gas, watching a small flame burst to life. It revealed the ground before his feet. The Brother stepped over the hazardously placed trip line with a wide-eyed look.   
“What is this place, Aether?” He eyed another lined trap and stepped over it, looking at the floor as he made his way over to the caskets, searching for them in the dark.  
“You are breaking the rules being here…did you not think they would guard against this sort of behaviour?” The Ghoul teased him, phantom voice whispering in his ears.   
“I just didn’t think they would try to kill someone who came down here…” He whispered into the air and sucked in a breath as he felt the Ghoul hiss sharply.

Clutching one side of his head, he looked towards the wall and gasped softly at the caskets. The wood was carved with intricate leaves and sigils, the words of the unholy one engraved into metal holding them together. Ducking a swooping velvet curtain, pushing the material gently as he walked towards the boxes. He ran his finger over the one in front of him, finger tracing the triangle on the front reverently.  
“Now which is me, Brother, do you remember your lessons?” The creature teased and the Brother snorted, reaching for the box with the sigil of Aether on the front, the circle easy to see in the dark. “Well at least you read up well, Brother.” The Ghoul tittered as the box was drawn from the shelf. The crushed purple velvet top was plush beneath the Brother’s finger as he ran his hand over it reverently. He pressed his fingers into the material as he knelt on the floor of the curtained room, the lighter flicking out as he tossed it onto the stone. Fingers slid over the metal clasps.

The Brother took a deep breath as he pushed the clasps open and lifted the lid. Inside sat the mask on top of a similar colour cushion, purple and rich. Silver glittered as he gazed at the relic, the eyes dark voids. Something hummed. The forehead of the mask began to burn bright, the symbol for the element of Aether burning with soft purple light, dancing over the mask in a cascade. Carefully, the man reached into the box, taking hold of each side of the mask, pulling it out towards himself, the metal weighty in his grip. In a state of awe he pressed his lips against the mark, watching the light stutter with the Ghoul’s laughter. Blinking, he ran his fingertips over the metal and under the eyeholes, lips parted. Purple light glowed against his face. 

“Now we must bond, my mortal.” Aether purred, words just like syrup. The Brother nodded as though the creature could see, and reached one of his hands into his pockets, wrapping his fingers around the knife he had been told to bring. He pulled it out, holding the blade in his palm. The Ghoul purred at him.   
“What do I need this for…you told me to bring it, but you never said why?” The Brother whispered, voice fogging the mask as he held it in front of his face, gazing into the abyss of the eyes.  
“The bond can only form if you are to almost perish…” Aether grumbled softly. The Brother swallowed, digesting the words, mulling them over as he ran a thumb over the cheek bone of the silver metal. 

“I suppose the knife is to cut myself open then?” He sighed shakily, glancing over at the blade in his hand, squeezing the handle tight in his fingers before looking through the eyeholes. The mark burned brighter in the relic’s forehead.  
“It must be done…Otherwise we cannot connect. It will only hurt for a moment, then I will heal you.” Aether soothes in the back of his mind.   
The Brother looked at the blade with wide eyes before nodding, “Okay…so what do I do with you?” He flipped the blade back and forth.  
“Put it on. Then slice your neck mortal.” It was cold. He flinched and swallowed again, staring into the holes of the mask before reaching up, arms shaking violently, to place it over his face. The Ghoul’s soft humming echoed within the metal, and the Brother shook, looking through the eyeholes with bright blue orbs. The blade shined as he pressed it to the soft flesh of his neck.  
“Do it, little one, do it. Then we can be bonded, you and I…Powerful and strong…They will not be able to hurt you anymore, the other brothers and sisters. We can show them, together.” 

With a sharp breath, the Brother pulled the knife along his neck, grazing the carotid artery, nicking it open with a great gush of blood over the small blade. Red rushed down his neck as the Ghoul hissed with excitement. Something stirred around him, and the Brother slumped over the casket, watching his blood pour onto the cushion, staining it rich red. The velvet was ruined. He mused over that as he watched his blood drip over the wood and metal. The mask over his face vibrated against his cheeks, shifting and morphing close to his face, sticking tight as he heard Aether gleefully titter. Phantom fingers plunged into the wound of his neck, tearing it open before something wet licked over the spurting arteries, curling around the hanging ligaments. It began to seal as the hands receded up and over his head. Blue eyes looked to the ceiling. Purple swirling eyes looked at him, a tongue slithering down to lap over the metal of his cheeks. Blinking, the apparition was gone. Agony bled to heat and to a soothing warmth. Aether’s presence filled his being, the Ghoul settling, raking through his memories, stitching them both together. 

A gurgled scream escaped his throat, the noise melting into a definitive sound as the Ghoul stitched his neck back together, the blood stopping. A red line ran along the skin. The Brother closed his eyes, feeling the Ghoul coax him into the deep, softly taking control, channelling the anger and the rage. Blue eyes grew dark, the glossy colour of the ocean shinning through as the man shifted, claws replacing his finger nails, the nails skittering over the floor as they were pushed out. A tail grew from his coccyx, the leathery appendage snapping against the stone as the Ghoul howled. Claws pulled marks into the floor as the shift finished, saliva dripping from beneath the mask as Aether grumbled, pulling the hood of the robe over the horns and silver mask over his face. The stairs were precarious as he wobbled on new legs upwards, images of the tormentors flashing before his eyes. Like a new-born foal, he strengthened his legs on the stairs, reaching the top strong and in control of the vessel.  
“We will make them pay, hush.” He whispered into the mask, feeling the human stir briefly, “I will do what you prayed for as a child.”

Aether purred as the Sister opened the door, clad in her sleepwear, a white nighty and little else. Clawed hands blocked the door from closing, her face full of fright as the chin of the mask glinted in the candle light. He was in her room faster than lightning and pushed her to the floor with a hiss, leaping onto the foot board of her bed like a cat. Clawed toes curled into the wood as the Ghoul looked down at her. Aether raised a finger to his lips, shushing her softly as she wailed into the rug, chest heaving, bouncing her tits. He tilted his head and snarled again, leaping from the headboard, teeth clicking audibly, centimetres from her face, behind the mask. She squealed again before the Ghoul took her arms and pulled them over the top of her head. Her eyes grew wider as she caught sight of the white scar over the Ghoul’s neck and the flaking dried blood still clinging to the skin. 

“How…How?!” She screamed before the Ghoul slammed a hand over her mouth, head tilting as he watched her frightened eyes. A croak sounded as he opened his mouth, words failing for a moment before Aether managed to get control over the tingling vocal chords.   
The demonic noise slowly bled into lisping words, “A blood pact, Seester. This is my bonded one…I am strong with him, just as he is strong with me, and I will help him do what he has longed to for years.” The Ghoul’s claws flexed over her eyes. She screamed behind his hand. Aether tutted, reading her thoughts quickly, the nether whispering the ideas to him, “Stupid girl. I am not going to do something so disgusting as take you against your will.” He hissed by her ear, “I am going to tear your eyes free and let you search for them for your disgusting degradation of this body.”

Clawed toes slit her arms open as he snapped his legs, pinning her arms back by her sides, one hand still stopping noises escaping her mouth. The other hand reached for her right eye first. She stared, frozen in shock, until his nails sliced through her eyes. The howl was silenced by his hand as he pulled at her optic nerve, a claw fumbling and worming its way behind her pretty bright eye before pulling the thing away with a wet noise. Blood dripped from the thing before he placed it by her head, well within her line of sight as he dipped to tear the other one free. She cried out, snot dripping from her nose as she screamed underneath the Ghoul.   
“See no evil, Sister…” He tossed the two eyes over his shoulder, calmly removing his hand. The Sister panted and cried, weeping against the floor in a foetal position. “Crawl, Sister…try and find your sight.” Aether crawled on top of the sheets, tittering as she rolled onto her stomach, weeping as he blindly placed her hands on the floor, moving towards the door, where he had tossed the shapely orbs. He left her screaming blindly into the air in her quarters.

Aether howled as he was slammed into the wall of the church, searching for his next target. Another Ghoul hissed at him, silver mask burning with bursting flames that flared from the nose and out the sides. The Hellfire seared his mask and charcoaled the sides. The red eyes of the Ghoul before him burned bright but softened quickly when he reached claws out to touch the searing hot mask.  
“Alpha…” He whispered into the cold air of the corridor, hands burning with the fire.   
“Omega.” The Fire Ghoul whispered equally as quiet, shaking the Aether Ghoul’s hands away. Claws tilted the Quintessence Ghoul’s head upwards, burning eyes glancing over the white scar.  
“My beginning.” Aether whispered.  
“My end.” Fire finished, claws stroking over the soft human flesh the other Ghoul was trapped in, “Where have you been for so long? I could not even sense you for the longest time.” Alpha grazed his nose over Omega’s pulse point, pushing his mask up before licking softly at the dried blood, cleaning his mate gently.

“I was sealed…The bond only just manifested. This vessel was perfect, so full of hurt. We fit so perfectly.” He growled as the other Ghoul pinned his neck, having finished cleaning the blood from it.  
“Careful. Someone might think you were starting to care about them.” Alpha grumbled, still sniffing and scenting out the new vessel his mate was in. He smelt of books. It wasn’t unpleasant.  
“That’s hilarious considering I just pulled a Sister’s eyes out.” Aether purred, purple effervescence floating from his palms over the other Ghoul, soaking into the skin. The Fire Ghoul shuddered as the cold magic seeped into his skin like a paralysing spell. With another growl he pushed forwards, butting his horns against the other’s still masked face.  
“Let me see you…before they tear us apart again.” He whined, claws gently pulling the mask upwards. The human face was soft, deep blue eyes hauntingly beautiful. It shifted, black hardened skin rippling, purple eyes shining in an ocean of darkness. Alpha shifted too, and the two gazed at one another, purring gentle litanies in Ghoulish. 

Aether grumbled softly, pushing the Fire Ghoul away, intent on leaving their meeting at that. He pulled his mask back over his face, skin rippling back to a peachy tone as he eased his way out of the other Ghoul’s arms. The Fire Ghoul snapped at him, teeth reaching for his shoulder as he danced out of sight, rippling through the shadows in a dash. A howl sounded, despaired and angry, and Aether flicked through another shadow, stepping and transporting himself ahead, hearing the Fire Ghoul blazing behind him, the crackle of the vicious Hellfire burning away the robes he was wearing.   
“Omega!” Alpha howled, launching himself at the shadows in the halls, setting the drapes and wallpaper ablaze. “Omega come back!” It was followed by a cry of agony as the Fire Ghoul was launched backwards, the shadows protecting their master. Aether only disappeared through the vortex, appearing in a room only his vessel could remember. 

A brother launched himself at him as he stepped from the shadows, clawed toes clacking against the wooden floor. The Ghoul was unprepared and was launched backwards into the wall. Aether huffed as he collided with it and was sent sprawling to the floor on his back. The maddened human launched himself forwards again, a knife held in his hand. The blade glinted, slicing through his robes and embedding itself in the Ghoul’s stomach. The pain was stark and sharp, burning his gut. The Brother grinned in triumph. Aether only howled with crazed wide eyes, mask pushed back to reveal jaws slick with spit.   
“Foolish.” He spat, claws tearing the knife free with a spurt of dark coloured blood. “You will have both of the last two done unto you, creature.” The knife was pushed forwards into the Brother’s own gut before the Ghoul rolled him off, claws pulling it free to watch the wound bleed. “Hear no evil and speak no evil. Let’s start with your tongue.” 

Aether settled his weight on top of the brother and hissed, one hand prying the brother’s mouth open. Taking hold of the wriggling appendage he pressed the blade to the underside and sawed the muscle free, enjoying the screams before he threw it away and started on the cartilage of the ears. The knife wasn’t sharp enough, and made jagged work of the flesh, the brother making croaking screaming noises as he pulled the last of his ears free with the sharp tips of his claws. The flesh wobbled as he held it over the Brother.  
“Payment for those years of torture, brother.” Bright dark blue eyes glared into the Brothers, and recognition flashed through them, fingers fumbling at the material of the Ghoul’s cassock as the mortal’s eyes widened. 

The door was flung open then. Aether peered over his shoulder as he heard snarling. His bright eyes looked over the snarling form of Fire against the floor, bound by hot silver chains, fire still spouting from the holes in his mask. His brothers held the Ghoul down, the Third of the Emeritus line sweeping into the room with a disgusted look.  
“What a fucking mess.” The man reached for the knife in the Ghoul’s grasp and snatched it away easily. “How in Satan’s name did you…Aether why?” The man was rumpled and tired, clad in robes that meant he had been stooped at his desk working late.   
Aether purred, “The bond, the call…I felt it. It’s the strongest vessel I’ve had in years, Papa. All these feelings and memories. Its amazing. I can look after him, and serve…” The Quintessence Ghoul stroked the side of his mask, as though comforting his vessel. The Third Emeritus tutted sharply.  
“We will sort this. You will play again in the band. It’ll keep you out of trouble while the link settles…Do not disappoint me, Omega, not like you did my brothers, or I will melt your relic and banish you to the pit.” The words were cold and Aether lowered his head respectfully, pushing away from the mutilated brother to soothe the writhing Fire Ghoul.

The show was painful for Aether. Being thrust back on stage was hard and annoying, even more so when he had to try and play around a Fire Ghoul intent on causing problems. It had ended in a back-stage scrap while Papa had sat and spoke to the audience, the two slamming one another against walls in the hall out the back as the other Ghouls tutted and waited for them to finish arguing. When the concert ended Aether stormed to the bus, leaving the bewildered rest of the band behind as his head throbbed and ached. His vessel stirred to life as he flopped onto his bunk, claws running over the beautiful gradient guitar in his grasp, the symbol for Omega plastered on it.   
“I can’t help but feel like something is wrong, Aether…” The human whispered to him.  
“Why, little vessel? That show was a little pear-shaped but, otherwise fine.” The Ghoul hummed to himself, rolling over on the small bunk, looking at the slats of the little bunk over him.  
“I don’t know…Something feels weird. Maybe its just your powers…” Aether soothed the human in his head briefly before the two were parted by the Third, the incantation swapping their consciousness around. 

A small click awoke the brother in the night. Blue eyes looked over in the dark. Cold metal pressed against the back of his head. Swallowing, he looked out of the side of his eyes, breathing picking up as he met the cold eyes of the Fire Ghoul’s vessel. Leaning over the, the light blue eyes of the Alpha Ghoul were dark.  
“I can’t take the talking anymore. All he does is talk and talk and talk!” The gun was pressed further into the Brother’s head as the other man spoke. He heard Aether hiss, the mask sat on his bedside table. He glanced over at it. The Fire Ghoul vessel pushed his head away with a howl, “Don’t fucking think about it!” The barrel twisted against the bottom of his head.  
“Why are you threatening me?” His voice was rough, sleep still clinging to it as he addressed the other, “Why are you taking it out on me…this isn’t my doing…”

“You woke the fucker! Now its all he whispers about! I can’t think straight! I can’t even fucking piss without him whispering about Omega, his everything.” Alpha’s vessel hissed at him, drawing away to toss the Aether Ghoul’s relic across the room against the wall. The other Brother wrestled him from the sheets, pressing him against the floor, a foot pressed against his back.  
“Please don’t do this…” He could already feel the unstable bond rippling, Aether howling and shifting beneath his skin.  
“I’m ending this before we tear each other apart…” Aether shifted to the surface too late, the fangs glinting as he howled. The chamber hammer snapped and the bullet went off. The Aether Ghouls head snapped against the floor, head unshifted as blood and brains splattered into the carpet. Another shot sounded as the other Brother pulled the trigger against his own temple, falling to the ground over the top of the other Ghoul.

Their brothers found them slumped over one another, burning elemental masks in each corner as the Ghouls were released from the dead flesh prisons, and sealed back within the relics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus concludes this idea. Thank you for sticking around! This has got to be one of the first things I've finished and fleshed out in a while, so thank you for bearing with my terrible motivation and lack of skill.  
> Much love!

**Author's Note:**

> More headcanons and gore because its so fun to write.  
> Follow me on tumblr at : https://you-are-cast-out.tumblr.com/ for more Ghost posts.


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